‘Due to natural causes’: Center on death of cheetahs in MP’s Kuno National Park

New Delhi: The Center on Sunday said five of the 20 adult cheetahs brought from Namibia and South Africa to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh died of “natural causes” and rejected media reports attributing the deaths to factors like radio collars. done.

“As per a preliminary analysis by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the apex body entrusted with the implementation of Project Cheetah, all the deaths are due to natural causes,” the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said in an official statement.

“There are media reports attributing the deaths of cheetahs to other causes including their radio collars etc. Such reports are not based on any scientific evidence but are speculations and rumours,” the statement said.

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Suraj, a male cheetah translocated from South Africa, died in Kuno National Park on Friday, while Tejas, another translocated male, died on Tuesday.

The ministry also said that Project Cheetah is yet to complete a year and it would be ‘premature’ to conclude the outcome in terms of success and failure as reintroduction of cheetah is a long-term project.

“Over the past 10 months, all stakeholders involved in this project have gained valuable insights into cheetah management, monitoring and protection. There is optimism that the project will be successful in the long run and there is no reason to speculate at this time.” Ministry said.

It added that international cheetah experts and veterinarians from South Africa and Namibia are being consulted on a regular basis to investigate the cause of death of the cheetahs.

“The Cheetah Project Steering Committee is closely monitoring the project and has expressed satisfaction over its implementation so far,” the statement said.

In addition, the ministry informed that steps such as establishment of Cheetah Research Center with facilities for rescue, rehabilitation, capacity building and interpretation; Bringing additional forest area under the administrative control of Kuno National Park for landscape level management; providing additional frontline staff; Establishment of Cheetah Security Force; And Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh is envisaged to be a second home for cheetahs.

Project Cheetah will have to go through ups and downs

The ministry said the cheetah has been brought back to India after seven decades and a project of such a magnitude “is bound to have its ups and downs”.

It added, “Global experience, particularly from South Africa, shows that in African countries, the mortality of cheetahs introduced in the early stages of cheetah revival has exceeded 50%.”

The ministry said cheetah deaths could be caused by inter-species fights, diseases and accidents before and after release, adding that injuries during poaching, poaching, road attacks, poisoning were also possible. Cheetah may die. and violent attack by other predators, etc.

All about Modi government’s Project Cheetah

The Narendra Modi-led government at the Center has launched an ambitious project to bring back cheetahs to India. Project Cheetah is being implemented by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) in collaboration with Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and Cheetah . Experts from Namibia and South Africa.

The project is being implemented as per the ‘Action Plan for Introduction in India’ and a steering committee of eminent experts and officials involved in successful tiger reintroduction for the first time in Sariska and Panna Tiger Reserves has also been constituted to oversee the project . ,

Under the project, a total of 20 radio-collared cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa were brought to Kuno National Park in the first ever transcontinental wild-to-wild transfer. After the mandatory quarantine period, all cheetahs were transferred to larger adaptation enclosures.

Currently, 11 cheetahs are in free-living conditions, while five animals, including a cub born on Indian soil, are inside quarantine enclosures.